


Stress Fracture

by orphan_account



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-01
Updated: 2015-08-01
Packaged: 2018-04-12 08:42:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4472774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jasper and Lapis journey back to the Crystal Gems while dealing with the effects of defusion.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stress Fracture

The first thing Lapis noticed was the pain in her back.

She groaned, slowly rolling off of her back. The pain was a dull pain that radiated from between her shoulder blades, across the upper half of her back. Lapis tried opening her eyes and cried out, shutting them quickly and shielding them. The light was overwhelming, and Lapis' mind was not used to processing so much information. Her other senses were similarly overloaded - she could feel every grain of sand that her leg touched, taste the salt in the air to the point of nausea, hear every minute detail of waves crashing onto the shore.

It was all so much and yet Lapis drank it all in, keeping her eyes shut.

She was free. Somehow – her memory is fuzzy and her time as Malachite is all a blur of hatred and darkness – somehow she was free.

After a few moments, she tried her eyes again. Slowly, a beach came into focus, black waves lazily slapping the shore in the cool nighttime breeze. The fact that it was night surprised her - she would have guessed the blinding light she first saw was Earth's sun, but it was in fact the thousands of other stars, twinkling at her from up above.

Lapis lay perpendicular to the ocean, her feet closer to the water. Turning around (and fighting another pulse of pain in her back) she looked behind her. A thick outcropping of jungle fauna rustled at her, and Lapis noticed the sounds of life emanating from within.

From her left, Lapis heard a groan. She turned.

Jasper was on her knees, one hand supporting herself while the other held her face. Her long hair was entangled with seaweed and debris. The arm she used to support herself was shaking.

"Jasper?" Lapis' voice felt rusty from lack of use, and the sound of her own voice coming out of her mouth was disorienting.

Jasper groaned again, having moved into a sitting position. "Lapis?" She was squinting, and removed the hand covering her face. "How bad?"

Lapis winced. Tiny cracks permeated all of Jasper's gem. and they extended across her face, covering most of her cheeks and the space under her eyes.

"That bad, huh?" Jasper frowned. "Let me see you."

Lapis turned, pointing her back in Jasper's direction. "You too," She heard Jasper say. Lapis reached behind her and traced the largest crack, which followed the center of her back.

She turned back. Jasper was standing now, a hand back over her face. "Do you remember what happened?"

Lapis shook her head as she slowly rose to her feet. She heard Jasper start to walk towards her. "Don't." She said, her tone icy. She reached out to the ocean, calling for it to protect her.

Nothing. "I can't summon either," Jasper said, taking another step towards her, both hands in the air, palms facing Lapis. "And I'm not going to do anything to you."

Lapis glared at Jasper. Her eyes were dull, and Lapis could see that she was straining not to hold her face. "I can't trust you."

“I know. But we're gonna need to not be at each other's throats if we're gonna make it back to Rose.”

“ _Back?_ Why would we go back?”

“Because if Rose can summon her shield, then she can heal. And this,” she pointed at her gem, “Isn't going to get any better if we stay here.”

Jasper's eyes went out of focus for a second, then snapped back. “Rose has healed you before?”

Lapis blinked. “Yeah?” She didn't remember telling her then when they were setting up the mission to come back to Earth.

She made to say something to Jasper about it, but Jasper was looking up at the sky, brow furrowed in concentration. She muttered to herself something that Lapis couldn't make out. Jasper knelt down and began to trace out figures and calculations in the sand with her fingers, occasionally looking back up at the sky.

After a few minutes, Jasper stood up again, her hands resting on her hips. Between them, a crude outline of a singular landmass lay between them. There were two bulges at either end of a thin strip of land that connected the two. Jasper looked up at the sky one more time, then back down at the drawing. She drew an arrow with her foot.

"Okay," Jasper said. "So that arrow is towards the North Magnetic Pole of this planet. Meaning we're around here." Jasper indicated a point at the north end of the lower landmass, near the connecting strip. "And Rose and her 'army' are here." Jasper indicated a second point, on the north landmass' eastern coast. "It'll take..."

Images suddenly flashed before Lapis' eyes. She saw maps, drawings, a hologram of Earth, with markings and distances.

"About a lunar cycle," she said.

Jasper looked up from the drawing. "More or less. How did you know?"

“The same way you knew about Steven healing me, apparently.”

Jasper opened her mouth, then closed it again, a confused look on her face. “How long were we down there? Fusions can't share memories like that.”

Lapis shrugged. "Too long. Why are you showing me this?” She pointed at the drawing. “It's not like I'm going with you. I never want to see you again."

"Don't worry, I'm tired of you too." Jasper said, frowning and crossing her arms. "But we don't have a choice. You need me to protect you on the way back to Rose's army. And I need you there with me when we actually get there so I don't get smashed on sight.”

More images. Large hands punching former Crystal Gems with stars carved into their armor into cliff-sides. Bashing enemies with her helmet, cackling madly. A general sense of being unwelcome.

“How do I know I can trust you?” Lapis asked.

Jasper's hands clenched into fists and her eyes dull, and tired, connected with hers. "Because I don't want to hurt you anymore, Lapis. And I don't want to die on this miserable planet.”

Lapis wanted to run away. She wanted to dive back into the ocean and hide from Jasper and Peridot (if she survived the crash) and the rest of the Gems for a long, long time.

But she knew Jasper was right: She didn't have a choice if she wanted to live.

"Lead the way."

* * *

Jasper hated rainforests.

Rainforests were by far her least favorite part of life-bearing planets. The trees surrounding her from all sides and tens of meters into the air felt as though they were closing in on her, making it difficult to navigate her bulky frame. Animals of all shapes and sizes were trying to eat them, which was annoying to no end. And the humidity wreaked absolute havoc on her hair.

Definitely the worst.

Lapis was slowing down. She now had a fine pattern of lines criss-crossing over her entire back. Her breaks were becoming almost daily, and Jasper was finding herself resting for longer and longer periods alongside her. She didn't mention it, however – better to push forward in silence than to bicker, especially since talking made her gem sore.

Jasper stopped, sensing something. She heard Lapis stop behind her as well. There was _something_ nearby. Jasper gritted her teeth - her senses weren't as sharp as they used to be. Stupid gem.

Suddenly, there was motion to her left. Jasper turned and swung, fist connecting with something large and all-black that latched onto her arm. She felt teeth sink into her forearm, and swung again, hitting the creature in the side. The creature dropped to the ground, where it lay still. For good measure, Jasper punted it, and it slammed into a nearby tree that was as thick as Jasper's shoulders. There was a loud crunching sound, and the beast slid down the tree trunk almost comically.

"Are you-"

"I'm fine." Jasper started walking again, past the creature's body and deeper into the jungle. That was the third time they had been attacked by those black predators, but the first time the creatures were able to inflict any sort of damage on her. She quickly ran her fingers over the wound in her arm. The holes weren't too deep. She'd be fine. Jasper looked behind her. Lapis was wincing, holding her own left arm, massaging bite marks that weren't actually there.

Unconsciously, Jasper traced a new crack that followed the line of her jaw, and down her neck. With her other hand, she picked out a branch that had gotten tangled in her hair. _For now._

* * *

Lapis could barely walk.

Every step sent shooting pains across her back, down the backs of her legs, though her hips. The desert sun beat down on her relentlessly, and the air was thick with dust. The heat was burning her feet and-

Suddenly she was lying face down in the hot, cracked earth. What little strength she had left leaked out of her like a cracked glass.

She felt two hands grab her, turn her over with care. Lapis could barely see, but she was sure it was Jasper. "Jasper, I- I can't-"

"I know." She felt herself being picked up, then cradled in Jasper's arms. "My back is _killing_ me. I'm impressed you lasted this long."

Lapis didn't respond. In silence, Jasper carried her as they made their way across the desert.

On the third night after Lapis fell, Jasper set her down, gently, against a large boulder near a small creek. They were in another forest, though (thankfully) not a rainforest. The rest had given Lapis some of her sight back, and she could see Jasper leaning against a tree, staring into the creek. "Jasper?"

"I'm fine," Jasper said automatically. She sank down into a sitting position, sighing. "I'm just... tired."

Lapis could feel the stress over Jasper's face, shoulders, neck, chest. The damage she had sustained in the jungle and desert was starting to take its toll on her body - the teeth marks on her left arm had unified into a single gash that stretched along the length of her forearm. Jasper had given up on cleaning her hair out days ago, and it was a tangled, matted, dirty mess of branches and leaves.

They sat next to the river for about an hour, letting the rushing of the creek and chirps of nearby wildlife fill the silence between the two of them.

"Okay," Jasper said after a while. "I'm ready." She slowly stood up.

Lapis was picked up again. She was careful not to lean too much on Jasper's bad arm. "How long?"

"Seven days." Jasper said. "Maybe a little longer."

And Jasper started walking, following the bank of the creek.

* * *

"I see it."

Lapis craned her neck as far as it could go. They were on top of a hill, overlooking the edge of a small city that Lapis only faintly remembered. In the distance, Lapis saw the outline of the Temple statue, the evening sun reflecting off of the cliff.

She could also hear the ocean, and she was surprised to find that she missed it. Jasper looked down at her. "Seriously? We spend years in an ocean and you can't go one lunar cycle without it?"

Lapis shrugged. "I like water."

"Whatever." Jasper looked down at what remained of her left arm. Another piece fell off, shattering into dust as it hit the ground. "We need to go. I'm falling apart over here."

Shifting Lapis in her right arm, Jasper started walking down the slope of the hill. Her steps were careful, calculated, controlled - she couldn't afford to put too much stress on any one part of her body.

Soon, the crunch of gravel gave way to dirt, then to sand. Jasper was no longer walking - one of her legs was threatening to give out and she was forced to limp across the sand, dragging the bad leg behind her. Lapis could feel the sheer force Jasper was exerting to keep her body together.

The slope up to the beach house was somehow harder than the previous five thousand kilometers. By the time they reached the top of the stairs, Jasper was panting, leaning on the railing for support, her bad leg now a stub that cut off into a jagged mess just below the knee. She pushed herself forward, stumbling against the frame of the door. Lapis could hear voices inside, talking loudly.

Lapis could feel a sense of dread and fear bubble up from within her, and she suppressed the urge to run away. "You held up your end," Lapis said, looking up at the broken face that had protected her, “Now I hold up mine. We'll be fine.”

The bubbling fear subsided, and Jasper exhaled. Jasper knocked on the door three times. The voices grew quiet. Lapis could hear a pair of footsteps - the clicking of sandals against hardwood floors - approach the door.

The porch door swung open. He was taller than Lapis remembered, but she recognized the big eyes and red-and-blue outfit.

“Hello, Steven,” Lapis said. She smiled warmly. “It's been a while.”

**Author's Note:**

> Headcannon: Jasper and Lapis will have some merged-mind side effects from being Malachite, and Jasper knows when to throw in the towel.
> 
> This was, for a variety of reasons, really difficult to write. I knew the general idea of what I wanted from the start (nearly two months ago!), but it took four drafts (the first was about 5000 words and complete garbage) before I refined it into the hot mess you see before you. I'm still not satisfied with it, but it's one of those cases where I've read it over so many times that I need to just put it out there.
> 
> So, here it is. Feedback is immensely appreciated.


End file.
